How to Make a Passport Photo at Home (and Print It at the Right Size)

By the SAA Tool editor, an IT support engineer · Last reviewed 1 October 2026 · 6 min read

A passport or visa photo is one of the few pictures where a couple of millimetres matter. Many countries accept a photo taken at home, as long as it meets their size, background and quality rules, but some don't. Below: how to check your country's rules, take a photo that passes, crop it to the right size and print it so it comes out at exactly that size. Photo rules differ between countries and change from time to time, so treat this as general information and check your government's official page on the day you apply.

First, check the rules and whether home photos are allowed

These examples come from the official pages linked below, as they read when this guide was reviewed.

A few details that catch people out:

• United States: the State Department wants a plain white or off-white background, a photo taken in the last 6 months, glasses removed, and a print on matte or glossy photo-quality paper. It says to submit "the original, unedited photo without filters or digital changes".
• United Kingdom: GOV.UK asks for a plain cream or light grey background, a photo taken in the last month, printed in colour on plain white photographic paper with no border, and "unaltered by computer software". For online applications, the digital photo rules say "Do not crop your photo - it will be done for you", with at least 600 × 750 pixels.
• Canada: Canada.ca says photos printed at home are not accepted, so use a photo studio.
• Ireland: the Department of Foreign Affairs accepts a plain light grey, white or cream background, a photo from the last six months, and says "You cannot take a selfie." Online photos must be JPEG and at least 715 × 951 pixels.
• Schengen visas: the European Commission's visa application page asks for a photo in line with ICAO standards and links to guidelines calling for a plain light-coloured background.
• India: if you apply at a Passport Seva Kendra, the photo is taken there. Passport Seva's guidelines for ICAO-compliant photos give 630 × 810 pixels, a white background, a face filling 80–85% of the photo, and glasses off.

Take a photo that will pass

• Get someone else to take it. The UK and Ireland both say you need help, and an arm's-length selfie distorts the face. Use the back camera at head height, about 1.5 metres away, which is the distance India's guidelines mention.
• Use a real plain background. Stand half a metre or more in front of a smooth white or light grey wall or a sheet of card, so your shadow falls behind you and not on it.
• Light it evenly. Face a window in daylight, with no flash and no lamp directly overhead. Look for shadows under the eyes, on one cheek or on the wall.
• Keep a neutral face. Look straight at the camera, eyes open, mouth closed, hair away from your eyes. Take glasses off; the US and India require it.
• Leave room around you. Include your head, shoulders and some wall above and to the sides. The crop needs space to work with.
• Turn off filters. No beauty mode, portrait blur or AI touch-ups. Several countries reject photos altered by software.

Make and print it with our tools

1. Open the Passport Photo Maker and click Browse. JPG, PNG, WebP and iPhone HEIC photos all open, and nothing is uploaded.
2. Choose the Photo size, such as 35 × 45 mm, 2 × 2 in for the USA or 50 × 70 mm for Canada. For anything else, pick Other size… and type the Width (mm) and Height (mm).
3. Drag the photo and use Zoom until your face fits the oval guide. Use Straighten (up to 15° either way) if your head is tilted. Reset starts the framing again.
4. Choose a Quality of 300 DPI or 600 DPI. Empty areas only colours gaps that appear if you zoom out or straighten; it doesn't change your background, so frame the photo so no gap shows.
5. Click Download photo for a single JPG, or pick a Print sheet (4 × 6 in, A4 or US Letter) and click Download print sheet.

Check the head size with a sum. On a UK photo, 29–34 mm of a 45 mm height is 64–76%. On a US photo, 25–35 mm of 51 mm is 49–69%. On screen, measure the preview from chin to crown and compare it with the photo's height.

Know your pixel counts. A 35 × 45 mm photo is 413 × 531 pixels at 300 DPI and 827 × 1063 at 600 DPI. A 2 × 2 in photo is 600 × 600 or 1200 × 1200. For an online form with a minimum, such as Ireland's 715 × 951, choose 600 DPI. For a form that wants an exact size, such as 630 × 810, make a 35 × 45 mm photo at 600 DPI (the same 7:9 shape) and shrink it with the Image Resizer. If a form gives its size in pixels and a shape the maker doesn't list, the Image Cropper lets you type an exact Width and Height.

About backgrounds. The Background Remover can clear a plain, evenly lit background, but the US, UK and Indian rules above reject photos changed by software. For a passport, retake the photo against a plain wall instead. Keep background removal for uses that allow editing, such as a staff ID card.

Print at exactly the right size

A 35 × 45 mm print sheet on 4 × 6 in paper holds 6 photos with grey cutting lines; A4 holds 30. The 2 × 2 in size fits 2 on 4 × 6 in paper and 15 on A4, because the sheet keeps a small margin around the edge.

• Print at 100%, labelled "Actual size" in most print dialogs, never "Fit to page", which shrinks everything.
• At a photo shop or kiosk, order the 4 × 6 in sheet as a normal print with no cropping or borders. A 10 × 15 cm print is slightly smaller than 4 × 6 in, so if the shop scales the file to fit, each photo shrinks by about 1.6%.
• Measure one photo with a ruler before you cut. It should be 35 mm wide, or 51 mm for a US photo.
• Check the file's DPI if a printer gets the size wrong. The Image DPI Converter shows the pixels, print size and DPI stored in a JPG. Our sheets already carry the DPI you chose, and Only the DPI can fix a file from elsewhere without touching the pixels.
• Use proper photo paper. Plain printer paper won't pass, and the UK and Canada want professional prints anyway, so a shop print of your sheet is often the easiest route.

Common mistakes

• Using an old photo: the UK wants one from the last month, and the US, Canada and Ireland the last 6 months.
• A shadow on the wall behind your head, or a background that isn't plain.
• Head too small or too big for the head-size rule, even though the photo size is right.
• Glare on glasses, hair over the eyes, or a smile with teeth showing.
• Printing with "Fit to page", or a shop cropping the sheet.
• Cropping a digital photo for a service that crops it for you, such as UK online applications.
• Relying on a guide instead of the official page: rules change, so check it before you apply.

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